“There’s got to be someone who can take your heat ….” Sarah tapped her fingers on her textbook as she thought. Then she closed her eyes and groaned. “Oh man.”
“What?”
“You are so going to owe me for this one,” she grumbled.
“What, already?”
“I could ask Trevor. I mean, if you really wanted me to. I hate asking him for anything. He’s already too darn arrogant for his own good. But if it would help you out ….”
“Really? You’d do that?”
Sarah sighed, evidently resigned. “Sure, why not? He’s a genie, right? He has to know tons of guys in low places.” She let out a sharp whistle. “Hey Trevor! I know you’re lurking nearby and listening in on our private conversation. You might as well show yourself.” She rolled her eyes at Ashlee. “Seriously, the dude’s worse than Edward Cullen at a sleepover. I’ve half a mind to—”
Before she could finish Trevor had appeared—out of thin air? Ashlee couldn’t quite tell. But she had to admit, stalker-like or not, it was hella convenient. Instant Love Slave! Just add water!
“I believe I’d like some of those pancake foods again, oh lovely goddess of all that is good and righteous and holy and amazing,” Trevor said smoothly, taking a seat across from the girls as if this was all just Tuesday in his everyday supernatural existence.
Ashlee tried her best not to stare at him. But holy crap, he was hot. Like the guy from the new Superman movie hot. Jet black hair, piercing silver eyes. Cheekbones that looked as if they were cut from glass. Seriously, Sarah was so lucky, and she didn’t even seem to realize it.
Instead, she was giving the genie a disproving look. “It’s pancakes,” she stated flatly. “Not pancake foods, not round discs of syrupy awesome. Just pancakes.” She sounded irritated. “And we can eat later. First we’ve got important business to discuss. Namely my friend Ash here. She’s in desperate need of a boyfriend.”
“Not a boyfriend,” Ashlee piped in. “At this point I’m just looking to get kissed.”
“You shouldn’t have any trouble with that,” Trevor remarked, giving Ash a quick once over with those intense, burning eyes of his. A look so hot that Ashlee had to fight back the urge to shift right then and there. After all, the last thing she wanted was for her friend to think she had some kind of attraction to her new guy. Sarah may have found Trevor annoying as anything, but she was oddly possessive of him at the same time.
Sure enough, her friend snapped her fingers. “Watch it,” she growled at Trevor. “You’re my professed love slave for all eternity, remember? Last I checked I’ve still got plenty of time on that clock.”
“Of course, lovely mortal goddess of amazing power and beauty and wits,” Trevor purred putting an arm around her shoulder. She shoved him off, but not before Ashlee caught a secretly pleased look scamper across her face.
“Anyway, you know any guys you can hook her up with?” she asked. “Someone who can … take a little heat? She’s part dragon, you know. So we’re looking for a friend who’s fireproof.”
Trevor thought for a moment, then his odd silver eyes lit up. “Maybe my friend Julian?” he suggested. “Nice fire demon. Resides in Hell’s Kitchen.” He glanced at Ashlee consideringly. “That’s not going to be a problem is it?”
“Hell’s Kitchen in New York City? Actually I hear that’s a pretty up and coming neighborhood.”
“Uh, no. Hell’s Kitchen in, well, Hell,” Trevor corrected, looking a little sheepish. “Julian’s dad is Satan’s sous chef.”
Ashlee raised an eyebrow. “Satan’s sous chef? Are you serious?”
“Of course. Dude makes a mean flambé. And because he’s a demon his skin is completely flame retardant.” He looked pleased with himself.
“Uh, right. But Hell? Like, actual Hell?” Ashlee sputtered. “Like fire and brimstone and all that jazz? I mean, isn’t the place unbearably hot to begin with?”
“It’s a dry heat,” Trevor explained, looking a little offended.
“Uh, hello?” Sarah interrupted, waving two hands in Ashlee’s face. “The guy’s male. He likes to play with fire. And he can cook. Since when did you get all picky?” Her friend huffed. “You just tried to get it on with Stanley Rosenbaum for goodness’s sake.”
“Please don’t remind me,” Ashlee groaned, feeling her face heat. “But you’re right. Julian sounds great. And hey, this is just for a quick kiss, right? It’s not like I’m committing to marriage here or even looking for a boyfriend ….” She paused then added. “So … when can I meet him?”
So that’s how, three days later, Ashley Firebreath, were-dragon from Brackenridge Falls came to be knocking on Julian the Fire Demon from Hell’s front door. She’d dressed for the occasion, in a lacy, sleeveless dress that fit both the weather (dry heat—whatever) and her mission (looking super cute could only help her cause, right?) Still, by the time she knocked, she was sweating a bit, and not only because of the heat.
What would Julian be like? Would he be cute? Nice? Most importantly—kissable?
Then the door swung open, and Ashlee’s mouth followed along with it, her jaw practically dropping to the floor. At first she legit wondered if she might have the wrong house. After all, the boy who poked his head outside looked absolutely nothing like what she’d pictured. Mostly because while Trevor had assured her his friend was hot, she’d imagined it’d be in some big, bulky Vin Diesel jock-type way. Flaming red skin, pointy horns, a little goatee perhaps. You know, fire demon chic.
But this guy! He was like the complete opposite. Tall, slender, with thick, wavy hair the color of wheat. And his eyes! Vivid, green, almost glowing with their intensity. This guy was a fire demon? If she’d met him on the streets she would have assumed him an angel instead.
“You must be Ashlee,” he said, his luscious mouth curving into a friendly smile, revealing perfect white teeth. She drew in a breath. God, he was cute. Wait—not God. Was it bad manners to use the word God when on a date in Hell?
She really should have Googled all this beforehand.
“Yes, hi,” she stammered, hoping she didn’t look as flushed as she felt as she held out her hand. Hopefully this guy really could take some heat, as Trevor had promised. Because she was starting to smolder just by looking at him. “I’m Ashlee. Nice to meet you!”
He reached out, closing his large hand over hers. A casual shake—that literally left her shaking. And as she followed him inside, she forced herself to take in an (also shaky) breath.
Don’t wimp out now, she scolded herself. Not when you’re so close to finally getting what you want.
Because, she realized, she was about to get kissed. For the very first time in her life. And, this time, there was nothing to stop it from happening.
She wondered if it would come naturally. Or if it’d be awkward at first—like they’d bump noses or something. Her nose was, as previously mentioned, a little large to begin with. But it got practically snout-like when she shape-shifted into a dragon. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem for her date.
“Would you like a soda or water or something?” Julian asked, breaking into her crazy thoughts.
“Water would be great,” she said. After all, her nerves were already as taut as piano wire. No need to add caffeine to the mix.
Julian nodded, heading into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with two large mason jars. “Hope you don’t mind room temperature,” he apologized. “We don’t have a lot of refrigeration down here.”
“Really?” she asked, taking the cup from him. “So you don’t eat anything cold? How do you keep food from spoiling?”
“Amazon Pantry.”
“Excuse me?” She raised an eyebrow.
“It’s changed everything,” Julian said excitedly. “Now we can get pretty much anything we want, delivered overnight, right to our front doors. And some places do have refrigeration,” he amended. “Like the Starbucks on Brimstone Ave. They just got a Frapaccino machine. You should have seen the l
ine in the morning.”
Ashlee didn’t know whether to be impressed or horrified that Starbucks had opened up a store in hell. Evidently the coffee chain really was taking over the world—er, or underworld, as the case might be.
“So,” she said nervously, glancing around the house again, wondering how they could segue into the kissing. Should she just walk up to him and press her lips against his, see how it went? Or did they need to talk it over first, let it come naturally?
“So,” he repeated. He walked over to the far side of the room, staring at the bookshelf there, as if he held all the secrets to the universe. She raised an eyebrow. Was he being shy? This big, bad demon from hell? Or… she frowned. Had he changed his mind? Maybe he didn’t find her attractive, now that they were face to face. Which would be just her luck, right? Finally she’d found a flameproof guy, only to learn he was just not that into her.
“Are you hungry?” he asked suddenly. “I cooked some dinner.”
Ashlee startled, realizing for the first time that the adjoining dining room had been all set up for a fancy meal. White linen tablecloth, candles, silver service for two. Wow. He’d obviously gone through a lot of trouble for her.
Something inside her stomach squirmed. She wondered if she should tell him she didn’t need this level of seduction. Kissing him was the whole point of coming here—there was no need to butter her up.
“I’m not really hungry,” she started to say, only to have her stomach betray her with a loud groan. Her cheeks flushed bright red. She hadn’t eaten lunch today, being too nervous about the whole meeting a stranger in Hell thing. And now, evidently, her body was launching a protest.
“Sure,” she amended. “I’d love to eat.”
“Great!” Julian looked relieved. She watched as he walked over to the dining room table and pulled out a chair for her. A gesture, she couldn’t help but note, none of her previous dates had bothered to try to do. Not to mention no one had ever thought to cook for her before!
And so, against her better judgment, she went over and sat down. Julian smiled and disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a delicious smelling roast. He set it down on the table then proceeded to bring out the side dishes. Mountains of mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. Puffy white rolls. She hadn’t sat at a feast like this in ages.
She took a tentative bite. “Delicious!” she exclaimed, surprised. For some reason she had assumed all food down here would taste a little burnt. But this—this was making her taste buds do a happy dance in her mouth. Maybe she needed to lay off stereotyping this place. Not to mention Julian himself.
“Thanks,” he said, his ears reddening a bit in the most adorable way. “My dad taught me how to cook.”
She nodded. Right. His Dad. Satan’s sous chef. This whole night was becoming more surreal by the second.
Julian took a bite of food. “So tell me about yourself,” he said after chewing and swallowing. “What’s it like being a were-dragon?” He smiled. “I’m guessing it’s way cooler than being an ex-angel.”
She snorted. “I don’t know about that.”
“Really?”
“Let’s just say being a shape shifter in suburbia comes with its own set of complications.”
And then, to her surprise, she started telling him about those complications. Which she totally hadn’t meant to do. After all, this was supposed to be just about kissing. Not confessing one’s life story to a complete stranger.
And yet here she was, telling him about her mom. About her stepdad killing her father to rescue her mom. She told him about the unfortunate incident in the chem lab sophomore year. And about being nicknamed Fire Freak by the other kids after the unfortunate car conflagration with Lester Birnbaum—and how it had taken an entire year of amensia’ing her fellow classmates to finally get them to lay off.
It was pretty pathetic, as far as life stories went. But Julian listened attentively. He asked questions at the right times. And when she had finished, instead of running shrieking in the other direction, he looked at her with something that weirdly seemed to resemble admiration. Which was crazy, of course. And also sent an unexpected warmth rising from her stomach that had nothing to do with the delicious food.
“What about you?” she asked, pushing the warmth back down. After all, shifting into a dragon before dessert would be more than a little awkward, not to mention totally bad manners. “How’d you end up down here? And how did your dad become Satan’s chef? I mean, that seems like a pretty big deal, no?”
‘It is,” Julian agreed. “But then he’s the only guy in a hundred mile radius who can make a decent angel’s food cake.”
She raised an eyebrow. He laughed.
“Yeah, I know. It’s weird, right? But the big boss has an unquenchable hunger for the stuff. Angel food addict, some might say.” He winked at her. “But don’t tell anyone I told you. Would totally ruin his rep.”
“So … you guys used to be angels then?” she asked, remembering the story of how some angels were cast out of Heaven. Perhaps this family was one of them.
Julian sighed. “Yes. I was born in Heaven. Grew up with the wings, the halo, the works. Until my dad got his new gig and moved us down here. Said it would be an adventure.” He wrinkled his nose to tell her exactly what he thought about that.
Ashlee couldn’t help but laugh. “So, I take it Hell isn’t exactly a hot spot then?”
He groaned. “I’m sure it’s fine if you grew up here. But all my friends and family are still up above. Down here, I don’t know a soul. Well, not that anyone has a soul here,” he amended. “You pretty much have to check them in on arrival. But all the other demons have known each other since kindergarten and aren’t really interested in becoming friends with a weird looking ex-angel like me.”
Ashlee felt her heart wrench a little as she took in the sad look on his face. He was lonely, she realized with surprise. The big, bad fire demon from Hell was actually lonely. Suddenly she felt a pinch of guilt. Here she was, down here with the sole intention of borrowing his flameproof lips to mark something off her bucket list. While he was clearly looking for something much more.
But no. He was a guy, right? And guys were always cool with kissing. Especially kissing with no strings attached. Besides, it wasn’t as if Trevor hadn’t told him the deal when setting up the date. He knew what this was. All it could turn out to be.
She pushed away from her chair. She needed to get this show on the road before she lost her nerve. “That was delicious,” she declared. “Now about that …”
She trailed off. He looked up at her, expectantly. She frowned. Tried to push the word “kiss” from her lips. But somehow it seemed stuck in her throat. Her knees buckled a little, her heart hammering her chest. Oh, dear.
Was she going to blow this all over again?
Julian rose to his feet. She took an involuntary step backward, not able to help but notice again how good-looking he was. How tall he was. How broad his shoulders were. How his eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. He took a step toward her. Her breath caught in her throat. Was this it? Was this what she’d been waiting for all night? What she’d been waiting for her entire life?
Do not chicken out. Do not chicken out.
He stopped. “Would you like to go for a flight?”
Wait, what?
She stared at him, for a moment speechless. Then she finally found her voice. “Flight?” she stammered.
A slow smile stretched across his face. “Usually after a big meal I like to get out. Stretch my wings.”
“But you don’t have any—”
“Invisible.”
“What?”
“My wings are invisible until I’m ready to use them.”
“Dude, that’s so cool!” she blurted out, before she could stop herself.
He shrugged, but looked pleased by her assessment. “So what do you say? Want to take a quick flight?”
“I don’t know ….” She shuffled from foot
to foot, suddenly a little embarrassed. After all, he was a hot ex-angel with invisible wings. She was a weird dragon with horns and a tail. What was he going to think of her after seeing her shifted? What if he was totally turned off? What if he decided she was not kissable after all?
“Come on,” he said. “You’re not scared of flying through Hell, are you?”
She frowned, a little offended. “Of course not.”
“Then what you waiting for?”
She sighed. “Okay, okay. Let’s do it.”
A quick flight. A quick romantic flight to get them both in the mood. No big deal.
And so she followed him outside. Watched him unfurl his wings. She let out a low whistle as the golden feathers caught the light—so brilliant they were almost blinding. Not to mention he had some serious wingspan going on. Which only made him hotter.
And only made her feel even more insecure.
He turned, looking at her expectantly. For a moment she considered running away, right then and there. Never looking back. Then she sighed and closed her eyes, concentrating on making the shift. After all, what was the worst that could happen? He’d think her weird. Ugly. They wouldn’t kiss. And she would be right back where she started, no big deal.
The first shimmer of change began to shiver over her, silver scales sprouting from her skin. A moment later she felt her nose elongating. Then wings, popping out from her shoulder blades. She dropped to all fours, her hands transforming into feet, fingernails curling into claws.
People always asked if it hurt to shift, but actually it was just the opposite. It felt good. Like taking off a costume after a long Halloween night. Which was odd and the opposite of what it should have felt like, but there you go.
When the transformation was complete, she turned to Julian, surprised to see him looking at her with clear awe in his eyes. She made a face, feeling sheepish. Thankfully dragons couldn’t blush. “I know I look weird,” she stammered.
“If by weird you mean completely bad ass,” he replied, without missing a beat. He grinned. “I am so jealous right now, I can’t even tell you.”
Dragons and Witches Page 4
